Suicides New York

People are traveling to New York City with the aim of killing themselves in a phenomenon researchers call "suicide tourism," a Manhattan public health expert reported Monday. Research reported in Washington at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Assn. suggests that one in 10 suicides committed in Manhattan since 1990 have involved nonresidents.

California Assembly Speaker Willie Brown predicts that an initiative to legalize euthanasia will qualify for the ballot in November and be passed by voters, even though he believes the prospect of such a referendum is the mark of a political process gone "crazy."

Government researchers who have studied every case of AIDS reported since the epidemic began concluded Thursday that there are only three ways the disease is transmitted in the United States: through blood contamination, sexual contact and birth to an infected mother. Despite theoretical concerns and anecdotal reports, there is no documentary evidence to suggest that the AIDS virus has been transmitted by saliva, tears, urine, eating utensils, vaccines, casual contact or insects, the U.S.

Late-night cable television in two Oregon cities this week will air a graphic how-to program for committing suicide, the latest salvo in an escalating debate over physician-assisted suicide. The 34-minute "Final Exit" program, produced by Hemlock Society founder Derek Humphry, lays out the ordinary workshop hardware needed to end a life quickly and painlessly and offers advice on such practical aspects as "keeping clear of the law" and "dealing with the aftermath."